Oh, Now I Get It
Happy New Year everyone… I’ve spent mine in a rather wealthy (well… ultra-wealthy) area in Mexico City as a nice little way to cap off the year and provide myself with further motivation. Compared to other areas in Mexico, here you’re able to sleep in quiet, feel safe at all hours, get excellent service and food, visit pleasant little parks and walk on neatly paved sidewalks.
This area boasts homes that average out about $1M dollar equivalent and frankly, in your nearest city in the USA would go for 4-5X more… Police commonly patrol the streets (or even camp outside some of the nicest homes/boulevards) and the use of dogs as alarm systems is far, far less compared to the rest of the country (here, they actually use real alarm systems).
To further illustrate the neighborhood, we’ve noticed that the taco stands that open up on our street close at 4:30PM–I’ve thought perhaps the security and municipality won’t allow them to be there beyond that hour–but I was wrong. They are solely set up shop for the workers who come in to work in this area (who are all gone home by 4 o’clock time, by a dedicated bus I may add) and since the people who live behind the walls of these mansions don’t dine on street food, there is literally nobody to sell food too. Some homes may have 6-8 people working inside of it and you invariably see them leave and lock up the house; they could be cooks, nanny’s or cleaners dedicated for each floor of the giant Castillos.
Without a doubt, this area is the quietest place I’ve been since traveling Mexico and hitting up 11 states, so I was in complete heaven. I felt alive again after being able to relax for once. Nonetheless, there was still something that crossed my mind
How vulnerable is this place of perfection? Mexico is a place with the most violent humans, no Rule of Law, a collapsing Parliament, and fragility in their economic system. Why are these billionaires still living here?
Of course, Mexico is one place that I’ve written about that is extremely “raw”; you get the absolute worst, poorest and most unhealthy and the most beautiful, luxurious and hygienic. The word “middle class” doesn’t translate to Spanish here… as it’s the epitome of “haves” and “have nots”. It’s a place where you get a complete spectrum and if you play your cards right to be in the upper class, latter, it can be a great experience. When God made Mexico, he was so preoccupied by the tasty food, he forgot to set the rules and let things play out randomly.
So are these places “on edge”? I am very concerned about deeply concentrated populations (cities), water supplies, food supplies, and civil unrest across the planet so I thought it was worth investigating further. Below is why the politicians, celebrities, famous podcasters, ultra wealthy families continue to live in these regions:
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This all begins to really make sense once you separate Mexico-the-country from Mexico City’s elite micro-states within it. Funnily enough, the areas I’m speaking about bear no resemblance to the rest of Mexico City or of the country for that matter. The ultra-wealthy don’t experience “Mexico” the way outsiders imagine it.
Mexico City Has “Private Sovereignty Zones”
The upscale areas function less like neighborhoods and more like semi-autonomous enclaves. They have
- Controlled access: cul-de-sacs, chokepoints, one-way streets, private guards
- Permanent private security layered with public police
- Predictable patterns (same residents, staff vetted, repeat vendors)
- Low anonymity for outsiders (people who “don’t belong” stand out immediately, this is obvious)
Low-to Mid-level Criminal groups understand this intuitively:
These zones are high-cost, high-risk, low-return targets.
High-level Narco groups don’t want attention. Kidnapping a billionaire in Lomas brings federal heat instantly. Ultimately, criminal organizations are after profits which creates power… so why try to extort $100M if you’re going to end up losing $8B in the process?
The Elite Have Parallel Institutions
Ultra-wealthy Mexicans don’t rely on the state the way normal citizens do.
They have:
- Private intelligence networks (ex-military, ex-police, Israeli and Colombian consultants & fighters)
- Direct lines to federal authorities
- Personal protection units, not simple “bodyguards” looking for sales on donuts (as we say in Canada)
- Advance warning systems (they know about unrest before it hits the news)
As a matter of fact, we ordered at one of those taco stands I mentioned and we saw a massive luxury SUV parked outside and one fellow was also ordering tacos. He had a Glock 17 on his hip (not a standard issue here…) and two extra magazines on his other hip (this is not someone to act as a simple deterrent force). From what I could tell, he was grabbing some lunch before picking up someone very important.
Narcos Are Rational, Not Revolutionary
Already touched on it above, and I try to write often to try to clarify that these groups are not solely steel-toed teenagers in the hills, but rather very sophisticated.
Mexican criminal organizations:
- Do not want social collapse
- Do not want elite flight
- Do not want international intervention
Targeting elite neighborhoods would:
- Invite military escalation
- Freeze financial networks necessary to launder funds
- Trigger international pressure
So instead, violence is geographically compartmentalized. There’s little demand to go to the bathroom where someone eats.
Peasant Revolt Risk?
Mexico does not have the ingredients for a French- or Russian-style revolt.
Why:
- Society is stratified but not ideologically-driven
- Wealth is normalized as patronage, not exploitation
- Many elites are seen as employers, not enemies. Of course they are resented, and much dissent heads their way (Mexico has its fair share of idiotic communists) but it’s not organized or deeply engrained, yet at least.
- Informal economies absorb pressure. Unlike other places, that literally had nothing to lose or no work… Mexico’s informal nature makes it possible for anybody and everybody to earn enough pesos to afford food and keep on kicking. This keeps people satisfied just enough to not risk it all.
Most anger is directed at:
- The state
- Local police
- Rival cartels
Not at the nameless families in Polanco.
Lifestyle Density You Can’t Replicate
Mexico City offers something even Monaco, Zurich, or Miami can’t fully replicate:
- World-class food without global scrutiny
- Cultural depth without paparazzi
- Domestic staff at scale and in every aspect of one’s life, making a true luxury experience.
- Social capital built over generations
- Multigenerational family proximity/Commonly linked individuals or like-minded folks
For many elite families: Mexico City is not a country risk—it’s a home base and just like everyone else, they tend to stay where they grew up. Mexico’s wealth inequality is tremendously large, so you can be treated like a King if you’re in the correct cohort.
There is a real lifestyle angle of Mexico, as far as I can tell, you can get a life of a centimillionaire with 10s of millions and a billionaire with centi-millions.
Psychological Reality: Control > Safety
Ultra-wealthy people tolerate risk if they control the variables.
In Mexico City:
- Risks are visible and understood
- Patterns are stable
- Rules (formal or informal) are known
Compare that to:
- Random knife attacks in Europe
- Regulatory confiscation
- Tax unpredictability
- Media-driven social unrest
This is a huge, huge point that time and time again, I find clients and readers may not fully grasp. Mexico, despite being far more dangerous and holding terrible metrics in terms of safety…is quite predictable in its madness. On the contrary, being on the wrong train at the wrong time in London, Paris or Rome can be outright lethal. Its unpredictability creates an element of risk that the deep pockets are not happy about [since 10s of thousands of millionaires in the UK have already left]. Europe really shit the bed in this respect by bringing in the 3rd world…
The Exit Is Always Open
This is the quiet truth. They stay because:
- They can leave at any time
- They often already have:
- US/EU residency
- Homes abroad
- Assets offshore
Staying is a choice, not a trap.
This is exactly why I have launched Open Door Consultancy and why I am developing a more advanced, thorough family wealth management and advisory service. You don’t necessarily need billions before you can benefit from having open doors and other alternatives at your disposal. Get in touch if you’re interested.
Closing
Ultra-wealthy Mexicans remain in these hidden, luxurious neighborhoods not only because they can afford it and they want to have “cooler” parties but because it’s a smart play from a security, privacy, risk and long-term asset holding point of view.
- These areas operate as secure micro-jurisdictions
- Criminal actors avoid them strategically
- Elites have parallel security and intelligence systems, not always affordable in other luxury jurisdictions
- The lifestyle and social capital are irreplaceable
- They maintain immediate global exit options
They live inside a layered system of insulation that is social, spatial, political, and economic. They don’t feel reckless, they feel independent and distinct.
My personal opinion? Never say never, especially when it comes to Mexico…but all indicators appear that these areas will continue to live in peace and prosper from higher asset prices, but it’s worth keeping an eye on the younger socialist-types popping up throughout the country.
I believe that the USA is eye’ing Mexico as a place to bailout and seize immense control of economically. In that case, more billionaires will be looking for sunny weather, privacy, great food and luxury life for fractions of the cost–they likely will end up here. Perhaps if I continue to gather subscribers, I too, someday, can live amongst the insulated.
